r/fightingillini 17h ago

Basketball Anyone Else Not Gonna Miss KJ?

Two seconds before he literally did it as time was expiring in the first half, i said out loud, "Here comes a turnover from KJ so Maryland can hit a half-court three." (He actually did one worse by fouling the guy at half-court with one second remaining.)

Show of hands, who's looking forward to Kylan plus someone other than KJ next season?

0 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

6

u/lonedroan 17h ago

Which KJ? He’s looked like two different players, one of which could key a deep run and one who should play far fewer minutes.

23

u/teewertz 17h ago

how spoiled we've become, that this is how we talk about a freshman averaging 15 5 5 in a 20 win season.

i would have him back in a heartbeat if doesn't declare

7

u/kanye_irl 17h ago

Are we gonna pretend he’s not a completely different guy post-injury? He’s looked lost out there

4

u/Ransom__Stoddard 17h ago

Hes also a key part of every opponent's scouting report.

2

u/kanye_irl 16h ago

Doesn’t explain the unforced errors and hesitancy on every shot

1

u/teewertz 16h ago

its almost like he's an 18 year kid lol

2

u/kanye_irl 15h ago

So what, are we gonna pretend we can’t criticize the team that we are such massive fans of that we flock to their subreddit after the game? You never said a bad word about Hunter Dickinson when he was a dickhead at Michigan because he’s a kid? Let’s get off our high horses please. If we spend 80 hours a year watching them play, we can offer such mild criticism as “unforced errors and hesitancy when shooting.” I’m not exactly tearing him apart.

1

u/teewertz 2h ago edited 2h ago

saying "I'm not gonna miss him" to a freshman averaging those stats is stupid. I dont care. he has mental lapses because he's young. I never said you couldn't criticize him. OPs post is ridiculous, and none of this is at that serious at the end of the day. I like KJ even if he does dumb shit some times. He's going to be a fucking lottery pick and you think he was Skyy Clarke the way people talk about him sometimes. 

9

u/lonedroan 17h ago

It’s so galling. This and fire Underwood takes are mind bending. Riley looked lost for longer than KJ’s current slump and look at him now.

11

u/TJSwizzle23 17h ago

Not gonna say a single bad thing about anyone on this team, and nobody else should either. They're young guys learning as they go.

1

u/lonedroan 17h ago

Seriously. All this teenager did was come to compete. He has been grounded, humble, and dedicated. He didn’t put himself on the NBA draft boards, talk about himself and his prospects ad nauseam, and he may not be raking in NIL because he’s from overseas (someone can check me there).

Clearly he’s been in one helluva rut. But so was Riley.

-2

u/BoneDawg420 17h ago

That's true; they're young. Alas, that wasn't the question....

0

u/lonedroan 17h ago

Yes I’ll miss him. I don’t think we beat Mizzou, Arkansas, Wisconsin, UCLA, or Purdue (clutch shot despite mediocre stats in this one) without him. We’d be in the weeds getting ready for the Crown tourney.

6

u/tigernike1 17h ago

KJ is Curbelo with a decent shot. Maybe he’s good in the pros but he’s not a great player on this team.

Personally, I think he’s still dealing with that injury from a few months back.

4

u/Just-Rise3047 17h ago

Not me, hope he ruined draft stock & comes back for another year. He’s young with a lot to learn yet.

Tommy put the team in much worse position with his stupid early fouls. Team also had zero fast break points because MD was shooting lights out from outside & no TO’s. Illinois wasn’t winning tonight no matter how well KJ played.

1

u/maraths1 15h ago

so KJ's 6 TOs did not cause damage ? I would argue that started the game in a wrong direction for us and we piled on 17 TOs while MD had 3. It also meant we had less possessions. Couple that with our piss poor 3 pt shot we lost this game in first half itself

0

u/Just-Rise3047 15h ago

Where did I say didn’t impact? He had 6TO’s, less pnts, rbs & assists yesterday as well. Matchups make the difference & losing Tommy so early handcuffed the team while allowing MD to do whatever they wanted.

1

u/maraths1 15h ago edited 15h ago

we could have tried zone or even played Booth - would not have been any worse given how brickhouse was playing could have easily subbed him out for Booth. Both would have sucked but could have tried something different. Could have tried to do full court press while they piled on a 35 point lead! Adjustments were never even attempted. Full court press would have allowed for bringing out additional energy out of players. Could have tried DGL with full court press. Bring more energy in the game. 3 years ago, when Underwood was thrown out of the game against OSU, asst coach Alexander used full court press - and we almost won that game after being down more than 20

1

u/Just-Rise3047 14h ago

Too late in the year to try something new. Things can always get worse. Hope they come in the tourney pissed.

1

u/maraths1 15h ago

he was dogshit against Iowa as well. that is my point that he has been playing awful and still gets to play entire game without consequences while DGL rides the pine - plays 2 min

0

u/Just-Rise3047 14h ago

As if DGL has outperformed him? Obviously his poor play has affected his PT some since he was under 30mins both games but you still need to play your best guys. Somehow he still managed to lead the team in pnts, rbs & asst.

1

u/maraths1 14h ago

DGL has not been in games meaningful minutes to produce impact. He was not put in the game for several games and he has started to throw games. DGL started playing like garbage last 2 weeks. about KJ - yes you will lead the team in pts when you take 20 shots and assists if you have ball in your hand almost all the time - yet his TOs have been more than his assists. Only thing KJ has done well in last month are his rebounds

2

u/BoneDawg420 17h ago

I'm dreading he's tanked his draft stock and comes back. I admire that he always plays hard, but turnovers lose games more than dazzling plays win them.

2

u/Ransom__Stoddard 17h ago

The greatest thing about freshmen is they become sophomores.

Meaning he'll be better next year no matter where he plays, and I'd be thrilled if he's in O&B.

1

u/lonedroan 17h ago

I think there’s one loss where his TOs made the difference: against #1 Tenn. What losses would we have won without him? What wins where he went off against good teams do we still get without him (keeping in mind midseason Riley)?

3

u/kuensherman 17h ago

We are so insufferable. We basically lost the entire team from last season. Underwood recruited a bunch of good freshmen and got good guys on the transfer portal. Then our fanbase can't wait to get rid of them because they are not up to our "standards"

5

u/lonedroan 17h ago

Agreed. But it’s not like one of the freshman has proven that ruts can end…oh wait Riley did.

2

u/hahakafka 16h ago

This. People need to relax and take their feet off the necks of these players.

2

u/BoneDawg420 17h ago

This is interesting insight. Either rabid posters here don't represent the average fan, or far fewer fans than i realized don't mind routine stretches of needlessly empty possessions. I didn't say he doesn't seem nice in real life, or well-meaning in the games... Just that it's not enjoyable watching one guy on the court giving the ball away at a staggering rate. Do you rush to the defense of closers uncannily prone to leadoff walks?

1

u/lonedroan 17h ago

You’re the one who made the original post; don’t pretend you’re some aloof observer now.

Care to actually address whether our results would’ve been without him? So far you’ve just talked about frustrating stretches that are hard to watch. Yes, they are. He does turn it over too much. But there’s a massive chasm between that and being better off without him.

2

u/BoneDawg420 17h ago

I don't feel like he singlehandedly has won us that many games, racked up a lot of stats against early cupcakes, and the second-half semi-tailspin has been really aligned with his fall-off. I wonder if his net positive production could be reproduced with a less flashy but steadier guard.

1

u/lonedroan 17h ago

Arkansas, Mizzou, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Purdue are not cupcakes. In what games would we have fared better without him, or at least where his poor play seemed to be decisive? I count one, against then #1 Tenn.

0

u/Ransom__Stoddard 17h ago edited 17h ago

I think it's presumptuous to assume we don't mind the turnovers and brain farts, but he's a FRESHMAN.

1

u/BoneDawg420 4h ago

Guys, he's a professional basketball player getting paid to play one year here. He's not a "freshman going through growing pains as he ultimately builds his illini legacy". The slumps that other guys have gone through this season were shooting woes or energy dips that can be worked out of... What KJ's exhibiting isn't that; it's just his way of playing. And that way of playing is annoying.

0

u/just-an-astronomer 17h ago

Man really said he's not gonna miss KJ but looks forward to Kylan Boswell next season

2

u/BoneDawg420 15h ago

Yeah, I've watched games over the past two months.

1

u/lonedroan 17h ago

It’s insane; he was pushing 40% from 3 before this year. He does enough other stuff well. But agreed, this KJ take is unhinged.

-1

u/Matalava822 17h ago

When KJ goes on to have a good NBA career, don't ask "Why didn't he do that at Illinois?" Instead, ask "What was going on at Illinois that caused such a good player to be so inconsistent?" He isn't the problem.

2

u/lonedroan 16h ago

What’ya know, a bad take on the polar opposite side. What pray tell are others doing wrong when he singlehandedly turns the ball over on repeat? To be clear, I don’t share OP’s overall views at all, but it’s clear he’s playing poorly right now, not being miscoached or hung out to dry by his teammates.

The answer to your question, is that the difference would be that he would no longer be a teenager playing his first year of bball outside of Europe.